I think I see Snakes on a Plane while eating Chicken Noodle Soup with a Soda on the Side...

Let me just start off by saying that there are some things in popular culture that I'm glad I'm missing by being here...However, the hilarity of Snakes on a Plane (movie) and Chicken Noodle Soup (song with accompanying dance) are not two of them. Firstly, if Snakes is not a good movie (which I'm banking on), then perhaps Mr. Jackson should just stop while he's ahead and just live off the money he's already made. It has gotten to the point where I can't tell if the preview is the actual preview for the movie or if it's a spoof of the preview for the movie! What is Chicken Noodle Soup you ask? Well just when you thought we had gotten enough after the east coast's Harlem Shake, Krunk of the Dirty South, and Krump and Hyphy from the west coast...the east coast strikes again with it's own new version of OUT OF CONTROLNESS...I keep telling myself that it's one of two things...either dance in the Black (African American) community is with returning to it's post-slavery roots or the Coonery had reached a whole 'nutha level...You be the judge...(and yes, I will be at home learning how to do it ASAP, thank you very much...lol)

Now back to the country at hand...

Tuesday night we went to dinner with our supervisor so that we could present him with the gifts we brought from home. First we went to and Indian restaurant. It was really good spicy soup...salad with some yummy dressing...Tandoori chicken, shrimp, and some kind of sausage-ish thingy, and vegetables all still sizzling when it came to the table like an Applebee's fajita...hahaha...pork curry, huge Naan, iced Chai, and fruit cocktail in yogurt for desert...all served in courses...the restaurant is owned by Indian people so it was really strange speaking to them in Japanese on the way in and out since their first/second language is probably English. Our Supervisor, Mr. Tokumaru, ordered his curry super hot...not mild, medium (mine), hot, not very hot, but SUPER HOT!!! Which = CRAZY in my book so now I like him even more! We found out that he's 44, married for about 16 years, with kids (girl 13 and boy 7, who he obviously likes less...lol). Then it was off to...you guessed it, KARAOKE!!! At dinner Mr. Tokumaru said that Wednesday would be a holiday a couple of times in conversation and at first we though he was joking then at karaoke he confirmed it...YAY! So we just had to come to the Enkai (office party) Wednesday evening.

Here's the Cadillac Woo Woo #2! and that's my granny bike with the rusted lock in the background.

Wednesday morning I got up at about 9pm, ate, and decided that I should find the far away school (1hr30 minutes by bus) that I was too lazy to try and find during the days that were originally assigned for finding our school. It was pouring outside so I put on my rain jacket, rain pants, and put my tote bag inside plastic bag, and headed to the bus station on my Cadillac Woo Woo #2 (bike)...smirking all the way at how ridiculous/adventurous I felt riding a bicycle in the pouring rain! Well, buses everywhere in the world are obviously the transportation of choice of CRAZY PEOPLE!!! One old man got on holding the most disgusting looking, dirty, mangy, wet kitten that I've ever seen...not to mention that he (the man) was drooling and used to the same towel that he had the cat wrapped in to wipe his mouth, face, and head...EEWWW! The bus came to a light so he got up to get change from the change machine at the front and left the cat on the seat...EEWWWW! And it started walking to the edge of the seat...all I kept thinking was, "EEEEWWW, please stay on the seat!" As soon as the man got off, the bus driver (a lady) and the rest of the old ladies on the bus immediately erupted into conversation about the man...it was classic! On the way to my school we passed through the town of Kurogi...it’s kinda in the mountains. Everything was so beautiful and green in the rain. It's funny how even little mountain towns have Pachinko Parlors (like little Casino where they give ball bearings b/c gambling is illegal...and you trade them for tokens that you take to a window in a dark alley and redeem for money...way to get around the system Japan!)...The vapors rolling up and down the mountains and patches of bamboo forests were incredible! A river runs adjacent to the school. When I got there, the Vice Principal was pulling up and there were four girls outside. The VP spoke great English and had been to Atlanta as an interpreter for the prefecture's board of education delegation at a conference. The four girls gave me a tour of the school. The building is only 3 years old and still smelled new...Get this, there are only 38 students and about 14 teachers! Unlike most Japanese junior high schools where the teachers rotate in and out of classes and the students stay, the students change classes. I was so sleepy on the way back...I think it was the combination of rain and air condition that did it. You know you're in the country when the bus driver pulls the bus over to buy vegetables from the back of a truck! I was so groggy when I got back that I left a really important folder (with all my maps, city info, etc.) on the bus I was able to get it back yesterday though. Here is what was on the cover of the book that came with my Cadillac Woo Woo #2!!! HILARIOUS!!!

The story for our "holiday" was that we went "to visit our schools"...Ha! I don't think our supervisor has the authority to give us holidays so that was the front, but we didn't know that that was the story until Wednesday afternoon...by then I was on my way back from actually visiting my school...so technically I did the right thing...in the evening was out office party...not as wild as I thought it was gonna be...the beer was flowing but no one was drunk for real and they didn't have any super crazy foods for us to try...so I was a little disappointed, but it was still nice. They introduced us, we introduced ourselves, speech from the big boss, the beer bottle tops were popped, a toast was made, and the eating and mingling began. It was really nice to finally say more than Hi and Bye to the people we see everyday. I was surprised at how much English folks knew. There's a guy who works in the office who looks just like Wesley Snipes from Jungle Fever!!! The glasses the square head...all he needs are some suspenders...a little deeper tan...and a white lady on his arm...lol I got a new camera the other day since my other one is dead! And on the way to my school in the boonies, I took pics with my disposable camera so I hope the I can get rid of that film soon and get it developed...or better yet I'll just take pictures with the new camera to post later.


It's September 1st...the beginning of My Month. It's been raining pretty frequently lately, but today I woke up to blue skies and a cool breeze...and NO HUMIDITY! First time since I've been here that a morning actually felt like morning and not noon. According to the forecast, this weekend is supposed to be really nice...in the 80s...but stormy again all next week...guess I'll have to thoroughly enjoy this weekend. Plus we got MORE COOKIES!!! I'm really not making any effort to keep from gaining the infamous Rice Booty that I gained before...uh oh. I made a power point presentation for my introductory class on Tuesday. I'll be teaching 3 classes. The English teacher from Yabe JHS (the small, far away school) called me yesterday to tell me that she regrets missing me when I came by. We had a pretty decent conversation. Her English sounds like that of a TV show host/Soap Opera Star...weird and dramatic...kinda like the voice-overs on Iron Chef...OUT OF CONTROL...and the Vice-Principal was right, she is talkative...for a Japanese woman anyway...I can't wait to see her...see if the voice matches the person. Here's a shrine near the train/bus station in the rain...My new favorite color combo:Green and Gray